The best Mr. Charlie from the Academy of Music run of March 1972 (in my opinion) Follows a fantastic "You Win Again"

First time they had played it in years, and a perfect version, which you don't get many with this song. P-e-r-f-e-c-t. Go listen, you'll see.

My first "Dark Star" (via tape!); they literally achieve lift off after the first verse (there's only one verse on this). Wow. Absolutely gorgeous. Slower than usual, you're definitely in deep space on this one.

This is truly a great Dark Star, listening to it now. Extremely spacey and psychedelic. Literally gets as quiet as you possibly can get at one point. Jerry sings it great (which let's face it, sometimes he'd "oversing" it, especially in the '69 era). Really nice. Definitely a version to seek out.

Wow, I can't believe this one is so close to the top, I find it messy and unexceptional in so many ways. First: the transition from jam into the first verse is totally sloppy and forced. A great Dark Star is organic, so that loses points just for that. Jerry has two ways of singing "Dark Stars": one in which he sings it, and one in which he oversings it. I thought by 1972 he had stopped oversinging it; guess I was wrong. I think the best part is how it seamlessly (organically) slips into "Sugar Mag". It's not a particularly spacey "Dark Star" (which is another one of my prerequisites!). So.....I am in the dissent on this one for sure. The sequence looks great on paper, "Dark Star->Sugar Mag -> Caution" but it's at best ok. (not impressed at all with the "Caution" either).

Couldn't agree more with the above comment; listening to it now. Best of al, it's proceeded by a hilarious bit of banter from Phil and Bob that takes the piss out of the song before it even begins. And then proceed to play a totally committed version. Phil goes for a high harmony in the second verse that he belts out. Add to that Jerry's pedal steel, which is impeccable (might be his best performance on this song over this Academy of Music run), this is definitely a keeper. I'm not cringing! That's the best thing you can say about any version of this song! Phil is kicking ass on vocal.

Couldn't agree more with the above comment; listening to it now. Best of al, it's proceeded by a hilarious bit of banter from Phil and Bob that takes the piss out of the song before it even begins. And then proceed to play a totally committed version. Phil goes for a high harmony in the second verse that he belts out. Add to that Jerry's pedal steel, which is impeccable (might be his best performance on this song over this Academy of Music run), this is definitely a keeper. I'm not cringing! That's the best thing you can say about any version of this song! Phil is kicking ass on vocal.